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Norm Vachon and his daughter were both duped in separate wedding ceremonies by a defrocked minister into thinking they had tied the knot and they want other couples scammed into thinking they were married to join a class action suit.
Maggie Montgomery-Heersink -- a former minister with the Bancroft-area Bay of Quinte Conference of the United Church of Canada who had her credentials revoked in 2001 -- continued to perform bogus wedding ceremonies, swindling many brides and grooms.
She recently wrote letters to all the couples about the scam and then fled to Calgary.
"My daughter was married by (Montgomery-Heersink) and I thought she was a nice lady. I thought if she was good enough for my daughter, my wife and I could use her," said Vachon, who was married in the backyard of his Thornhill home in 2005 by Montgomery-Heersink.
"When we found out we weren't married we had a hell of a laugh, but then things sunk in. We had a garden wedding with a tent and 100 people and it was perfect. Then we realized it wasn't perfect and got miffed. It takes away our perfect day and we aren't happy campers."
Vachon's daughter -- whose wedding was also fake and not legally registered -- is expecting a baby, Vachon said.
"I almost wish this woman would have kept her mouth shut ... it's caused so many problems. My daughter and I are talking about starting a class action suit," said Vachon, who paid Montgomery-Heersink $500 to perform his ceremony.
So far, 10 couples who thought they were married by Montgomery-Heersink have come forward, said Rev. Wendy Bulloch, executive-director of the Bay of Quinte Conference of the United Church of Canada, who informed Montgomery-Heersink in 2001 that she was on the church's "discontinued service list and prohibited from performing any church functions."
That ruling stemmed from the "inappropriate" adoption of Montgomery-Heersink by a dying parishioner who left her new daughter a sizable estate.
"She was charming and I can understand why people could fall for her. I always had concerns and we will offer the couples pastoral care. She had made my life hell," Bulloch said, adding the church's legal council is trying to find a solution for the duped couples.
Bulloch points out that none of the marriages were church ceremonies and says the couples' concerns are legal issues, such as income tax, insurance and wills.
After a year of co-habitation, the federal government would see these couples the same as a legal married union, said Brenda Cossman, a professor of family law at the University of Toronto.
Provincially, if the couples "believed they were married in good faith," the same laws would apply when it comes to the separation of property during a split as it would to other married couples.
The province will step in and make things right for these couples, says Gerry Philips, minister of Ontario Government Services.
"We are determined to help these people make things right ... they thought they were married in good faith and we are talking to officials about how to have their marriages registered at no extra cost," Philips said.
Police are investigating.